Top YouTube Creators Plan to Woo Madison Avenue by Showcasing the New Appointment TV

The talent behind mega-hit channels like MrBeast and Dude Perfect will use the Spotter Showcase event to reveal how audiences are engaging with them The post Top YouTube Creators Plan to Woo Madison Avenue by Showcasing the New Appointment TV appeared first on TheWrap.

Mar 27, 2025 - 14:24

Top YouTube Creators Plan to Woo Madison Avenue by Showcasing the New Appointment TV

For years, YouTube has hosted its own upfront presentation, dubbed Brandcast, where creators help the Alphabet-owned video platform woo Madison Avenue and compete with traditional media for ad dollars.

But for the first time ever on Thursday, many of the big names who have found success on the platform over the last 20 years are peeling back the curtain for marketers and advertisers on how audiences are engaging with them.

The invite-only event, dubbed Spotter Showcase, will be hosted by YouTube creators and podcasters Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry and headlined by special guests including MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Kinigra Deon, Ryan Trahan, Rebecca Zamolo and Jordan Matter. Together, Spotter’s roster of creators generated over 77 billion minutes watched in the U.S. by adults ages 18 to 49 in 2024.

“These creators are like the networks of today delivering the hit TV shows of today,” Spotter president Nic Paul told TheWrap. “This is really about one-to-one communication, where creators can actually present their formats and content calendars so brands can really see what are the opportunities around these voices that have this fandom and attention at scale.”

YouTube, which raked in $36.15 billion in ad revenue in 2024 and saw last year’s upfront commitments increase 20% year over year, has emerged as the clear leader of time spent watching TV in the streaming space, accounting for 11.6% of the category’s total 43.5% share in February, per Nielsen — a 53% increase from the same period two years ago. By comparison, Warner Bros. Discovery took in $8.09 billion in ad revenue for 2024 and Paramount $10.3 billion.

Adults ages 65 and older represented 15.4% of the platform’s viewing, an increase of 96% year over year and nearly doubling in the last two years. Viewers ages 50-64 accounted for 20.4%, 35 to 49 accounted for 19.4%, 18 to 34 accounted for 21%, 12 to 17 accounted for 6.9% and kids aged 2 to 11 accounted for 16.9%.

“Everyone knows that YouTube is starting to become the major driver of entertainment, and it’s dominating. Everyone’s seen the Nielsen data that it’s number one on connected TV. But everyone’s question is, ‘Can you curate for me and show me what people are watching?’” Chaudry said. “Whether they’re in the advertising business or the general entertainment business, they want to know what a show looks like when a YouTuber presents it.”

Finding success on YouTube

Today, a YouTube creator typically receives 55% of the net revenue from the ads displayed on their videos, while the remaining 45% goes to the platform. Additionally, creators earn money through separate opportunities working with brands directly.

Chaudry, who is one of many success stories on YouTube, said content creation on the platform has come a long way since its early days, with streaming’s binge model opening a door for creators, filling the void left in week-to-week TV programming.

“If you think about the concept of what long-form video meant in the first five years of our career on YouTube, it was five to seven minutes. Fast forward 20 years, and not only are creators uploading content that’s 30 to 40 minutes or an hour long, but they’re also producing repeatable formats that are serialized and eventized,” Chaudry said. “It’s matured to actually be what week to week appointment television used to be.”

Chaudry began posting videos to YouTube in 2010 and launched The Lacrosse Network in 2012 as a way to tell stories about the sport he grew up playing. That same year, Rosenblum was making lacrosse videos on his own, and Chaudry convinced him to join and help build TLN. Two years later, the pair would sell the network to Whistle Sports and become independent producers. In 2017, they launched their own podcast, which talks about the latest trends in the creator economy from the perspective of the creators themselves. To date, the Colin & Samir YouTube channel has produced 450 videos and accumulated 1.57 million subscribers.

“I always wanted to be in Hollywood. I just went to the place where they couldn’t say no, which was YouTube, but it was very misunderstood at the time in the world of entertainment,” Chaudry explained. “The first video Colin and I uploaded was just shot directly into our MacBook. At that time, YouTube was this new, exciting platform where we knew we could have a connection with our audience, but we didn’t know what else it could become.”

Rosenblum and Chaudry would be invited to host YouTube’s first-ever Brandcast presentation in 2022. Later that year, they would start collaborating with Spotter.

Founded in 2019, Spotter offers customized content licensing for creators; an AI-powered creative suite called Spotter Studio to help drive viewership, engagement and monetization opportunities; and Spotter Ads, an advertising insight and analytics platform to connect creators with brands.

“We have a whole ad sales marketing team and a creator team that works with the creator and/or their team to put these opportunities together. When they go out to market, it’s very clear to the brand that media is going to flow through Spotter and branded integrations are going to flow through the creator,” Paul explained.

The Amazon-backed firm has invested $950 million to date and supported over 735 creators’ YouTube channels, with the funds being used towards everything from hiring teams to building production studios. The average upload of a Spotter creator partner is typically 33 minutes or longer.

“Over the past 15 years of uploading YouTube videos, I’ve always wanted to be taken seriously as an entertainment producer, and I think that’s been really hard,” Chaudry said. “When Spotter came around, it was like, ‘OK, here’s a company that takes us seriously,’ and that’s been really refreshing.”

While thankful for the opportunities YouTube has given him, Chaudry admits creators don’t get much one-on-one time with advertisers at Brandcast. He sees Spotter Showcase as a complementary opportunity for them to have a sophisticated discussion to help increase awareness with ad buyers who are unfamiliar with the space.

Approximately 74% of Spotter creator partners’ viewers watch their content at least once a week, with 91% watching at least an hour of YouTube a day and 63% watching at least three videos in a row during the same viewing session, according to the research firm Magid. More than half of viewers said they felt better about a brand if it was recommended or featured by a YouTube creator, and 66% said they didn’t mind watching an ad just to support the creator they’re viewing.

A fight for attention and ad dollars

While Spotter Showcase is separate from Brandcast, the event provides yet another opportunity for YouTube to “take the oxygen out” of traditional TV, Dave Morgan, founder and CEO of cross-channel adtech company Simulmedia, said.

Primetime TV ad sales for the 2024-25 upfront season on linear fell 13.7% year over year to $18.4 billion, with cable falling 4.8% to $9.07 billion and broadcast falling 3.5% to $9.34 billion, according to Media Dynamics Inc.

Advertiser spend on streaming was a bright spot, growing 35.3% to $11.1 billion, per MDI. But its cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for a 30-second spot fell by 16.7% to $29.50 amid tougher negotiations with sellers as ad dollars shifted to FAST services, Amazon and YouTube.

The presentation also comes as younger consumers are turning to social media and user-generated content as they become increasingly frustrated with streamers’ price increases. Consumers are paying an average of $69 per month for four streaming subscriptions, according to Deloitte’s new digital media trends survey of more than 3,500 people.

“More consumers are questioning the value of money for streaming,” Jeff Loucks, executive director of Deloitte’s Center for Technology, Media & Telecommunications, said. “[User generated content] offers a compelling alternative because it’s free, and people can watch content from creators they really relate to.”

Per the survey, 56% of Gen Z respondents and 43% of millennial respondents find social media content is more relevant than TV shows and movies. Among the younger generations surveyed, 54% said social media ads are more relevant to them than those on streaming video services or cable TV, with 49% of millennials and 63% of Gen Z saying ads or product reviews on social media are most influential to their purchasing decisions. Ads on streaming ranked a distant second at 28% and 25%, respectively.

Media and entertainment companies and advertisers are competing for an average of six hours of daily time per person, which includes a mix of streaming, user-generated content, social media, gaming, music and podcasts. Gen Z spends 54% more time — or about 50 minutes more — than the average consumer per day on social platforms and watching user-generated content, and 26% less time (about 44 minutes less per day) than the average person watching TV and movies, according to Deloitte.

Despite these trends, Morgan is skeptical Spotter Showcase will have much of an impact for individual creators, citing the difficulty in drawing comparisons with engagement metrics.

“It all depends on audience. In the end, that’s the economic driver,” Morgan added. “If those creators can get scaled audiences, then they’ll get the funds that are justified by the size of the audience or impact they have. You can’t get mass brand money if you don’t have mass audience reach.”

As competition with user-generated content continues to heat up, Loucks believes traditional media need to focus on improving their content recommendations and teaming up with creators.

Deloitte noted that 56% of younger generations surveyed watch TV shows or movies on streaming after hearing about them from creators online, 53% said they get better recommendations on what to watch from social media and 29% of overall respondents said they’d be more willing to watch TV shows or movies starring their favorite creators.

Recent partnerships have included “Beast Games,” Prime Video’s most-watched unscripted series, and Netflix’s licensing deal with Ms. Rachel. ESPN has also weighed the possibility of adding user-generated content to its upcoming “flagship” streaming service launching this fall.

“From a creator perspective, it’s how can I build more of a global audience and brand and extend my network,” Paul said. “Creators are just becoming Hollywood a little faster than Hollywood is becoming creators, and we believe you’re going to continue to see it.”

The post Top YouTube Creators Plan to Woo Madison Avenue by Showcasing the New Appointment TV appeared first on TheWrap.